For patients who benefit, half achieve a seizure reduction within five days (if the diet starts with an initial fast of one to two days), three-quarters achieve a reduction within two weeks, and 90% achieve a reduction within 23 days. If the diet does not begin with a fast, the time for half of the patients to achieve an improvement is longer (two weeks) but the long-term seizure reduction rates are unaffected.[43] Parents are encouraged to persist with the diet for at least three months before any final consideration is made regarding efficacy.[9]
Frederick F. Samaha, M.D., Nayyar Iqbal, M.D., Prakash Seshadri, M.D., Kathryn L. Chicano, C.R.N.P., Denise A. Daily, R.D., Joyce McGrory, C.R.N.P., Terrence Williams, B.S., Monica Williams, B.S., Edward J. Gracely, Ph.D., and Linda Stern, M.D., “A Low-Carbohydrate as Compared with a Low-Fat Diet in Severe Obesity,” N Engl J Med 2003; 348:2074-2081. http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa022637.
Low carb diets focus on keto recipes (also known as ketogenic recipes) like the ones below to keep your blood sugar stable, helping your body regain insulin sensitivity and keeping your mood and energy levels stable. Also, since processed food has so many additives – usually sugar included – low carb diets encourage you to cook for yourself. This leads to eating more whole foods and improving your diet in that way as well.
Today is day one! Breakfast was delicious. So happy I found your blog and thank you for the recipes and especially the shopping list! You’ve left me with no excuses and actually a little bit excited to begin this 21 day adventure. This is huge. I’ve done Paleo before, felt good, but it didn’t last long term. My body needs to be low carb, no sugar, so again, thank you.
Thank you, thank you, thank you! Thank you for taking the guesswork out of putting a plan together. Thank you for putting in the time, your dedication and commitment helping people you don’t even know. I get overwhelmed putting a plan together. What I think is healthy is not! I am starting the 3 day kickstart this week. I am putting my shopping list together. While doing so, I find myself asking- are these ingredients enough for 1 person or more? Should I increase the quantity of items to feed the family? I have a family of 5 and we all need to eat healthier. More specifically, my husband and I will be doing Keto. The kids (14, 18 & 20’year olds) will most likely do the dinners and snacks. Thank you for your help with this. Sorry in advance if you already answered these questions. I went through other comments and didn’t notice if it had been addressed. Thanks again!

Still, it can be hard to get enough fat when you first start this diet. Butter, nuts, coconut and olive oils, and fatty cuts of meat are all on the menu. However, don't go overboard with polyunsaturated fats like soybean, corn, or sunflower oil. Keto dieters who increase their intake of those fats often end up with gastrointestinal distress that causes them to jump ship.

Mellissa, I didn’t read through all the comments … just half :) Wondering if this will work for someone who’s a diet controlled diabetic? The nutritionist said I should have 45 carb meals and 20 carb snacks … I’ve been gaining weight steadily BUT my blood sugars are awesome! I’m working with a double edge sword here. My biggest issue (other than always feeling bloated) is I have to have a good, hefty snack at midnight each night to keep my blood sugars within range in the morning. Needless to say my waistline no longer exists … buy hey … my blood sugars are good. *rolling eyes*
The classic ketogenic diet is not a balanced diet and only contains tiny portions of fresh fruit and vegetables, fortified cereals and calcium-rich foods. In particular, the B vitamins, calcium and vitamin D must be artificially supplemented. This is achieved by taking two sugar-free supplements designed for the patient's age: a multivitamin with minerals and calcium with vitamin D.[3] A typical day of food for a child on a 4:1 ratio, 1,500 kcal (6,300 kJ) ketogenic diet comprises:[27]
Hi Cyn, The numbers are general guidelines but will vary depending on many factors, such as activity level, insulin resistance, weight and more. There is no single magic number, just conventional recommendations that are a good starting point. I will have a macro calculator coming soon that will help determine what is best for each person, but even then it’s an approximation. The only way to know for sure is to test. If keto is your goal, it’s usually best to start lower and then see if you can stay in ketosis when increasing.
I’m starting my third day and already down a pound! Happy to see the scale move in the right direction. Your recipes are delicious. Thank you! On a side note, I noticed your comment in one of your other blogs about the processed Atkin products. Couldn’t agree more with you. I did Atkins very successfully about 10 years ago and kept the weight off for a long time. I followed one of Dr. Atkin’s first books. Fast forward to now and here I am trying to lose again. I picked up one of the newest editions of the books and was so disappointed to see they listed those processed items in phase one. I quickly put the book back on the shelf!Your posts and recipes are very motivating and I really appreciate your work. Again, thank you!
As a bonus, I’m making this amazing meal plan – and other keto meal plans – available in my MealPrepPro app! So, if you’ve been wondering what the hype is all about and you want me to some of the heavy work for you by providing a fresh, customizable keto meal plan each week, then make sure you test drive my MealPrepPro app. The app is FREE to try and available right now to download on iPhone and iPad.
The ketogenic diet is indicated as an adjunctive (additional) treatment in children and young people with drug-resistant epilepsy.[25][26] It is approved by national clinical guidelines in Scotland,[26] England and Wales[25] and reimbursed by nearly all US insurance companies.[27] Children with a focal lesion (a single point of brain abnormality causing the epilepsy) who would make suitable candidates for surgery are more likely to become seizure-free with surgery than with the ketogenic diet.[9][28] About a third of epilepsy centres that offer the ketogenic diet also offer a dietary therapy to adults. Some clinicians consider the two less restrictive dietary variants—the low glycaemic index treatment and the modified Atkins diet—to be more appropriate for adolescents and adults.[9] A liquid form of the ketogenic diet is particularly easy to prepare for, and well tolerated by, infants on formula and children who are tube-fed.[5][29]
These affect your brain and spine, as well as the nerves that link them together. Epilepsy is one, but others may be helped by a ketogenic diet as well, including Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, and sleep disorders. Scientists aren’t sure why, but it may be that the ketones your body makes when it breaks down fat for energy help protect your brain cells from damage.
This week we’re introducing a slight fast. We’re going to get full on fats in the morning and fast all the way until dinner time. Not only are there a myriad of health benefits to this, it’s also easier on our eating schedule (and cooking schedule). I suggest eating (rather, drinking) your breakfast at 7am and then eating dinner at 7pm. Keeping 12 hours between your 2 meals. This will help put your body into a fasted state.
Love this! So glad I found you! Your menus are great, you make it easy with the shopping lists, (now if I could just find someone to do the shopping for me ;-)) I usually fall off the wagon to easy, my usual excuse not knowing what to make, but with your menus and lists it gives me no excuse. I just started and am anxious to see how it goes. I have also started my exercise again!
Bread probably isn’t the first thing that comes to mind when you think about the ketogenic diet because it’s generally full of carbs. But, if you replace your store-bought bread with a homemade keto bread recipe, it can fit seamlessly into your keto low-carb, high-fat diet. How does bread even become keto-friendly? With almond flour, a lot of eggs, cream of tartar, butter, baking soda and apple cider vinegar.
In 1921, Rollin Turner Woodyatt reviewed the research on diet and diabetes. He reported that three water-soluble compounds, β-hydroxybutyrate, acetoacetate and acetone (known collectively as ketone bodies), were produced by the liver in otherwise healthy people when they were starved or if they consumed a very low-carbohydrate, high-fat diet.[10] Dr. Russell Morse Wilder, at the Mayo Clinic, built on this research and coined the term ketogenic diet to describe a diet that produced a high level of ketone bodies in the blood (ketonemia) through an excess of fat and lack of carbohydrate. Wilder hoped to obtain the benefits of fasting in a dietary therapy that could be maintained indefinitely. His trial on a few epilepsy patients in 1921 was the first use of the ketogenic diet as a treatment for epilepsy.[10]
Since this is my full-time job, donations really help me keep afloat and allow me to post as much to the website as I do. While I do really appreciate any donation you want to give, you can enter $0 in the amount given to download it for free! I’ve added in $5 as the suggested price. I think that’s a very fair price considering other websites are charging in the hundreds of dollars and I’ve seen what they are like on the inside.
So happy I found your site, out of all the keto sites I’ve clicked on yours is the best!! You actually give us a plan to get started and I love your humor :) I’ve tried living keto before but it was the diet along with a lot of supplements and nasty shakes…it wasn’t for me! I don’t like drinking my snacks and meals just to get into ketosis! Looking forward to trying this again and trying your recipes!
I am SO very thankful that I found your post because it answered so many questions, especially the whole uterus part. I was a little freaked! lol … I am new to Keto and I must say that I have been a little frustrated because I started this new keto lifestyle since the second week of February and I’ve been loosing and gaining the same freakin 5 lbs! I now realize that I have been overthinking the whole change and overwhelming myself. Thank you for all the great information and meal plans :)
A typical day on a keto diet might include breakfast of fried eggs or a frittata with eggs, mushrooms, cheese and butter; lunch of chicken thighs with cabbage and olive oil; and dinner of bacon burgers with green beans and butter. The emphasis on proteins and fats also is intended to provide a feeling of fullness, which can make the eating plan easier to stick to.
Thank you soooo much for this. I have been a big fan of your recipes for a few months-delicious! I was floundering on my low carb for a while and this holiday season was the first in years that I just ate everything…whatever I wanted. I was left feeling huge, bloated, uncomfortable in my own skin. I had forgotten what I loved about low carb, that it wasn’t complicated and I did get to eat what I loved. Thank you again for reminding that it can be easy and delicious.

For people with diabetes, rapidly rising ketone levels can signal a health crisis that requires immediate medical attention. When there is an absence or not enough of the hormone insulin (or the body is too resistant to insulin to allow it to drive glucose into the cells for energy), the body cannot use glucose for fuel. Insulin helps ferry glucose to our cells and muscles for energy. Instead, in this case, the body resorts to burning stored fat for energy through the process of ketosis, leading to a buildup of ketones in the body.

Initially you may be surprised that on keto diets you eat less frequently. That’s because the fats are pretty satisfying. But as you normalize and adjust into a ketogenic state, that may change and your appetite may increase. That’s fine and completely normal. Use whatever diet you decide to follow as a starting point – it should be “written in pencil” so that you can make changes along the way. Consider adding an extra meal, marginally increasing the size of the meals or just adding a shake between meals. It’s up to you – just listen to your body. For example for me, I added a low-carb “green powder” shake supplement to my regimen along with either flax seed oil or some nuts in order to satisfy my hunger.
Thank you Mellissa. I guess I need to set up a Reddit account. Several people have directed me there for Keto forums for one reason or another. I try not to let it get me down but I have been fluctuating really badly since I started this WOE and I have a feeling it has a lot to do with the hormones not being balanced. I came off of a prepackaged, doctor recommended food plan that really knocked me outta whack and helped me discover that I do indeed have an under-active thyroid, which I have known most of my life because I have always felt hormonally off balance and could never lose weight. It is also genetic in my family but doctors never listened to me and at most would run the basic blood test to appease me which always came back normal…which is common…and when they did, they would lecture me about losing weight and hand me a prescription for diet pills or give me info on some fad diet. Now I am trying to fix it with Keto and natural remedies. I feel better than I ever have in my life on the energy front and that was almost an instant feeling after switching to Keto. I hope I balance out soon because I am 35-40 lbs down since mid-May (depending on my fluctuation for the week) and have about 100+ to go. The frustrating part is I have now lost the same 3-5 lbs repeatedly over the past 5-6 weeks and all I can think is that could have been 20-30 lbs closer to my goal weight! I even considered going back on that nasty diet even though I felt terrible because I did lose consistently. I have confirmed my macros with some others who are more experienced and they are just as boggled as I am about the bad fluctuation.
Hey folks, I am a 55 year old guy whos used to be in good shape, so was wondering if I could use the Keto diet to lose fat and gain muscle, obviously I would have to increase caloric intake as I am weight training and performing cardio so was wondering about supplements, vits and minerals as well whey protein, as I am trying to lose body fat and build muscle I need extra calories.. plus creatine and NO pre work out and a post work supplement…
I have one more question. You stress salt in this diet but I was wondering why you don’t recommend salted nuts. Is there a reason? I will just replace the almonds with string cheese if that is the case but I just can’t handle raw unsalted nuts. To me they taste like dirt! But I love salted ones so I was curious if we need the salt can I eat my salted almonds or pistachios? Just trying to figure out where the salt can be utilized. Thanks for all you help! Day 3 and going strong!

Ha! Don’t even get me started Alisha! Mr. Hungry will eat whatever healthy low carb dinner I made and say it was delicious, then help himself to a pint of ice cream and eat THE WHOLE THING right in front of me! Now when I occassionally make low carb cookies or treats I let him have one and then it’s HANDS OFF because he can (and does) eat whatever he wants!

The keto diet isn’t new, and it’s been around for nearly a century. It was originally developed to treat people with epilepsy. In the 1920s, researchers found that raised levels of ketones in the blood led to fewer epileptic seizures in patients. The keto diet is still used today to treat children with epilepsy who don’t respond well to anti-epileptic drugs.[2]